Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City.
The LDS Church says they will continue backing the Boy Scouts. A challenge to Utah's ban on polygamy is using the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. A fifth of Utahns supports flying the Confederate flag above government buildings.
The clock:
- 68 days to the 2015 election – (11/3/2015)
- 144 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – (1/18/2016)
- 151 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
- 152 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – (1/26/2016)
- 196 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
- 306 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 439 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
Thursday's top-10 headlines:
- A news crew was shot to death on live television by a former colleague in Virginia. The gunman later took his life [The Guardian].
- The LDS Church announces they will continue their support of the Boy Scouts…for now [Deseret News, ABC 4, KUER].
- A new survey finds one-fifth of Utahns support flying the Confederate battle flag over government buildings, with higher support among Utah conservatives [Utah Policy].
- Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, visits Utah to discuss international politics and business [Utah Policy, Deseret News].
- A number of investigations are underway into potential election law violations in the Salt Lake City mayoral contest [Fox 13].
- The Utah Transit Authority says if a proposed sales tax hike passes in November, they will be able to expand bus service [Tribune].
- The "Sister Wives" family is using the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage to challenge Utah's ban on polygamist unions [Tribune, Fox 13].
- Utah's ACT scores have dropped from first overall to fifth in the nation this year [Tribune, Deseret News].
- A new report says congestion in Salt Lake City is bad, but not as bad as other urban areas [Tribune].
- Vice President Joe Biden says he's not sure his family has the "emotional fuel" for him to mount a bid for the White House following the death of his son Beau [New York Times].
On this day in history:
- 1859 – The first successful oil well in the United States was drilled near Titusville, Pa.
- 1883 – The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurred on Krakatoa, a small uninhabited island west of Sumatra in Indonesia.
- 1928 – The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in Paris, outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes.
- 2007 – Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty in Richmond, Va., to a federal dogfighting charge.
- 2008 – Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was formally chosen as the Democratic presidential nominee at the party's national convention in Denver.
